Category: The Positivity Diaries

Positive thinking is the idea that you can change your life by thinking positively about things.

This idea can sound a bit soft and fluffy, which is something of a problem for many people who recognise that just thinking good thoughts won’t change the world and therefore discard the whole idea.

However, research shows that positive thinking really does have a scientific basis. You can’t change the world, but you can change how you perceive it and how you react to it. And that can change the way that you feel about yourself and others, which can in turn have a huge effect on your well-being.

Quick Tips to Enable Positive Thinking

• Gain Control of Yourself: Do not be critical of yourself to others. Whilst it can be useful to confide your concerns to someone you trust, telling the world is something else. Be kind to yourself. Make a list of your good qualities and believe them, believe in yourself.

• Don’t Be A Complainer: By being negative you can isolate yourself from others and cut yourself off from positive solutions to problems.

• Learn to Relax: Allow time for yourself each day, if only for a few minutes it is important to find time to relax and unwind. See our page on Mindfulness for more.

• Boost Your Own Morale: Treat yourself every now and again. Especially if you have overcome a problem or made a personal achievement.

• Congratulate Yourself on a job/task well done and perhaps tell a friend. Justified praise is a good boost to morale.

• Learn to Channel Nerves and Tension Positively: when you are nervous, adrenalin is pumped through the body and you feel more keyed up and alert. This extra energy can be used to good effect; enabling you to communicate with greater enthusiasm and intensity, for example.

• Learn to be Assertive: Stand up for what you believe in and do not be pressured by others. See our section on Assertiveness for more.

The Effect of Negative Thinking

To understand the effect of positive thinking, it’s helpful to think about negative thinking first.

Most negative emotions, such as fear or anger, are designed to help with survival. They cause us to take swift and effective action to save ourselves from whatever is threatening us. This means that they also prevent us from being distracted by other things around us.

So far, so good, in survival terms. If there’s a bear standing in front of you, you don’t want to stop to pick flowers.

But negative thinking is not so great in more modern settings. If you’ve got a lot to do, and you’re worried that you won’t get it all done, the last thing you need is for your brain to shut down and focus only on how long your ‘To Do’ list has got.

Negative thinking is a habit, something you can train your brain to avoid. Constant negative thinking can make you much more likely to be stressed and can lead to more serious problems, like depression.

See our pages: Avoiding Stress and What is Depression? for more information.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Barbara Fredrickson, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, carried out a classic experiment with five groups of people where she showed each group images designed to provoke a different emotional response.

• Group 1 saw images designed to trigger feelings of joy;
• Group 2’s images were selected to make them feel contented;
• Group 3’s images were neutral;
• Group 4 saw images to make them afraid; and
• Group 5 saw a series of images designed to make them angry.

Each group was then asked to write down what actions they would take in a situation that created similar feelings.

Groups 4 and 5 wrote down significantly fewer actions than the other groups. Groups 1 and 2 wrote down the most actions.

In other words, feeling positive emotions helps you to identify more possibilities and options in your life.

But what is perhaps even more interesting is that these extra possibilities and options seem to translate into action.

People who think more positively are more likely to do things to deliver on those options. They build new skills and develop existing ones, so that they genuinely have more options in life.

Positive Thinking in Practice: The Placebo Effect

High quality trials for new medicines and therapies compare a treatment group, which receives the new treatment, with a ‘control group’ that does not.

But as a general rule, these control groups do not just have ‘no treatment’. Instead, they receive a ‘placebo’, that is, a treatment substitute which looks like the real thing, but has no physical effect. Examples of placebos include sugar pills or flavoured water instead of genuine tablets or medicines.

Why do they receive a placebo? Because of the power of positive thinking…

The ‘Placebo Effect’ is a well-documented phenomenon in medicine, in which those who think that they are being given a new and effective treatment are more likely to recover than those who know that their treatment is nothing new.

The placebo effect may sound extraordinary, but it has been seen time and time again in clinical trials.

The lessons are twofold:

• New treatments have to ‘beat’ placebos to be sure that they have a real effect; and
• The mind is an extremely powerful tool and, if at all possible, healthcare practitioners should help their patients to draw on it.

A positive attitude will probably not cure cancer in itself. But positive thinking will make it easier to manage your life, reduce stress, and also help you to take care of yourself better. And those things are important to help you recover from serious diseases.

WARNING! Don’t force it

Positive thinking is good. But you should not try to use it to block out everything negative that happens in your life. Sometimes bad stuff happens, and you will feel down about it. It’s no good pretending that you don’t because forced positive thinking can be counterproductive.

What you need to avoid is the ‘developing disaster’ scenario (the ‘my life is a total disaster’ tape that plays in your head). The best way to do that is NOT to tell yourself that your life is perfect. Instead, you need to recognise what has gone wrong but set it in context.

For example:

“Yes, I’m having a bad day, but tomorrow will be better. I will go home now and I will be able to think of a solution to the problem in the morning when I am less tired.”

Tamar Chamsky, a clinical psychologist, calls this ‘Possible Thinking’, and research suggests that it is the best way to recover from difficult events.

Developing Habits of Positive Thinking

If you think about positive thinking as ‘being happy’, it is much easier to work out what you should do to develop habits based on it.

For example, what do you like doing? And with whom do you like spending time?

Research shows that there are three very good ways to build positive thinking skills:

1. Meditation

People who meditate every day show more positive thinking than those who do not.

Is that the meditation causing the positive thinking, or just having time to think? It’s hard to tell, but it’s also hard to argue with the science. People who meditate tend to show more mindfulness, or ability to live in the present, which is also associated with positive thinking.

2. Writing

A group of undergraduates were asked to write about an intensely positive experience every day for three days.

Amazingly, they had better moods and better physical health afterwards, and the effect lasted for quite a long time. This is a pretty easy thing to do: you could, for example, write a blog focusing on positive experiences, or keep a diary.

3. Play

It’s important to make time for yourself to have fun.

Sometimes you might need to actually put it into your diary to force yourself to make that time, whether it’s to meet a friend for coffee, or go out for a walk or a bike ride.

You can also look at our page on Neuro-Linguistic Programming for more ideas about how to help yourself to think positively.

Further Reading from Skills You Need

The Skills You Need Guide to Life: Looking After Yourself

Based on some of our most popular content, this eBook will help you to live a happier, healthier and more productive life.

Learn how to look after your body and mind: the fundamental first steps to personal development.

This eBook, now in its second edition, with new and revised content, is designed to make life both easier and better.

A Virtuous Circle

Happy people, those with a positive outlook on life, are not just happier, but also seem to achieve much more.

While success may lead to happiness, there is very little question that happiness also leads to success.

Finding time to be positive about your life, and to do the things that make you feel positive emotions like happiness, is vital to helping you to develop skills and grow as a person.

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SOURCES:

The Journals of Gerontology: “Survival Advantage Mechanism: Inflammation as a Mediator of Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging on Longevity.”

American Journal of Epidemiology: “Optimism and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study.”

The American Journal of Cardiology: “Effect of Positive Well-Being on Incidence of Symptomatic Coronary Artery Disease”

Clinical Psychology Review: “Optimism.”

Psychosomatic Medicine: “Positive emotional style predicts resistance to illness after experimental exposure to rhinovirus or influenza a virus.”

Psychological Science: “Optimistic Expectancies and Cell-Mediated Immunity: The Role of Positive Affect.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “Effects of optimism, pessimism, and trait anxiety on ambulatory blood pressure and mood during everyday life.”

Journal of Research and Reflections in Education: “Positive Thinking in Coping with Stress and Health outcomes: Literature Review.”

Pain: “Temporomandibular disorder and optimism: relationships to ischemic pain sensitivity and interleukin-6.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving.”

Medical Decision Making: “The influence of positive affect on clinical problem solving.”

Journal of Clinical Psychology: “Worry changes decision making: The effect of negative thoughts on cognitive processing.”

Open Access Journal of Clinical Trials: “Randomized Controlled Trial of a Positive Affect Intervention to Reduce Stress in People Newly Diagnosed with HIV; Protocol and Design for the IRISS Study.”

Psycho-oncology: “A randomized pilot trial of a positive affect skill intervention (lessons in linking affect and coping) for women with metastatic breast cancer.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “Open Hearts Build Lives: Positive Emotions, Induced Through Loving-Kindness Meditation, Build Consequential Personal Resources.”

Mayo Clinic: “Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress.”

Psychological Science: “Grin and bear it: the influence of manipulated facial expression on the stress response.”

Johns Hopkins Medicine: “The Power of Positive Thinking.”

The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley: “Greater Good in Action.”

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: “Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.”

American Psychologist: “Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions.”

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Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Practice overcoming negative self-talk with examples provided.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you’re optimistic or pessimistic — and it may even affect your health.

Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don’t despair — you can learn positive thinking skills.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Positive thinking doesn’t mean that you keep your head in the sand and ignore life’s less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It’s unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don’t smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Identifying negative thinking

Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

• Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones. For example, you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received.
• Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
• Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst. The drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong and you automatically think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.
• Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground. You feel that you have to be perfect or you’re a total failure.

Focusing on positive thinking

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice — you’re creating a new habit, after all. Here are some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:

• Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it’s work, your daily commute or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way.
• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you’re thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. And learn techniques to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don’t say anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you’re thankful for in your life.

Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them:

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.

When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you’re better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.

Jan. 21, 2020 Show references

1. Carver CS, et al. Optimism. Clinical Psychology Review. 2010;30:879.
2. Hernandez R, et al. Optimism and cardiovascular health: Multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). Health Behavior and Policy Review. 2015;2:62.
3. Applebaum AJ, et al. Optimism, social support, and mental health outcomes in patients with advanced cancer. Psycho-oncology. 2014;23:299.
4. Seaward BL. Reframing: Creating a positive mind-set. In: Essentials of Managing Stress. 4th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2017.
5. Seaward BL. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. 8th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2015.
6. Karren KJ, et al. Mind/Body Health: The Effects of Attitudes, Emotions, and Relationships. 5th ed. Glenview, Ill.: Pearson Education; 2014.
7. Sood A. The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living. Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press/Lifelong Books; 2013.
8. Cohen S, et al. Positive emotional style predicts resistance to illness after experimental exposure to rhinovirus or influenza a virus. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2006;68:809.
9. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition. Accessed July 16, 2019.

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